Part 2
Revelation Chapter 13
VERSE 1 “And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.”
AND I SAW: Here again we have John’s peculiar section marker. It is with this phrase that the new vision (and subsequent Chapter) begins.
A BEAST COMING UP OUT OF THE SEA: - A beast represents the less-than-ideal characteristics of mankind. (See Eccl 3:18.) Sometimes the symbol seems to apply to one man as with Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4:16.) Most often, however, the symbol applies to a group of men (a government or institution) one with unholy characteristics.
This beast (the Roman Catholic Church-dominated arrangement, church-state) comes out of the sea (the restless mass of humanity), because this apostate Christianity was born in the crumbling ruins of the pagan Roman Empire -- a time of great restlessness and turmoil.
HAVING TEN HORNS: Horns are powers -- supporting powers. The history of Roman Europe shows a rather continuous involvement of about ten states in support of the Roman arrangement. [Editor: Europe contains (10) language groups also.] See bottom of page.
SEVEN HEADS: Heads are the idea part of any creature. The church-dominated empire has gone through seven major changes in the way it has related church to state beginning back in the days of Justinian when the church became more than just the state religion.
ON HIS HORNS WERE TEN DIADEMS: - This is different from Chapter 12 which has the diadems (crowns) on the HEADS rather than on the HORNS.
Why the difference?
Here is the difference:
CHAPTER 12: Emperors (who were at the helm of any of the forms -- heads -- of government) ruled the Roman Empire. Rome WAS the authority, NOT its provincial horns. Thus, the crowns were on the heads.
CHAPTER 13: After the ascendancy of the “little horn,” the Empire began losing its over-all rule. When Justinian made the Bishop of Rome PONTIFEX Maximus (supreme religious ruler), it was, in fact a political move despite the meaning of the title. Justinian needed to enforce CIVIL RULE in the provinces far from Constantinople.
The fact that the “little horn” could subdue three other horns shows the civil power of the Papacy in the region. Thus, Rome lost its over-all dominion and the various provinces (horns) GAINED political autonomy. This is here shown by the crowns’ being on the horns FROM THIS POINT FORWARD.
Note and remember that the Papacy was ONE OF THE CROWNED HORNS -- but the one he chose to wear was an ecclesiastical crown with power to give “Divine Right” to the lesser horns. This left this “little horn” with astonishing influence which would never have been attainable were he only to wear an ordinary civil crown.
Because this delegation of power to the horns begins historically with Justinian, we are justified in seeing Justinian as the FIRST of the seven heads of this beast.
ON HIS HEAD WERE BLASPHEMOUS NAMES: The whole concept of church-state union (fornication) is an abomination in God’s sight. Therefore, the heads, the ruling church-state collaboration, are a blaspheme. Blaspheme means “an evil-speaking.”
What has spoken more evilly of God’s character than what the apostasy-state combination has done in His name?
The word NAME means character. Blasphemous names, therefore, mean evil-speaking characteristics. Thus, the false church need not have SAID anything bad about God. It is what it DID that says it all. (New Albany Notes on Revelation)
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The “Ten Horns” (As taken from, “Notes on the Revelation of Jesus Christ” by Brother Anton Frey, page 190).
A Rev. T. H. Birk, wrote a book entitled The Four Prophetic Empires in which he had a list of kingdoms for each century from the ninth to the nineteenth, which he introduced with the remark: “it is sometimes doubtful whether a kingdom can claim an independent sovereignty on account of the complex and varying nature of its political relations.” Those kingdoms in the lists below, where an interrogation is inserted by Mr. Birk are the ones, he thought contained some elements of doubt as to whether they should be included:
A.D. 860 Italy, Provence, Lorraine, East France, West France, Exarchate, Venice, Navarre, England, Scotland - (10)
A.D. 950 Germany, Burgundy, Lombardy, Exarchate, Venice, France, England, Scotland, Navarre, Leon - (10)
A.D. 1050 Germany, Exarchate, Venice, Norman Italy, France, England, Scotland, Aragon, Castile, Normandy (?), Hungary (?) - (9 to 11)
A.D. 1150 Germany, Naples, Venice, France, England, Scotland, Aragon, Castile, Portugal, Hungary, Lombardy (?) - (10 or 11)
A.D. 1250 Germany & Naples, Venice, Lombardy, France, England, Scotland, Aragon, Castile, Portugal, Hungary - (10)
A.D. 1350 Germany, Naples, Venice, Switzerland(?), Milan (?), Tuscany (?), France, England & Scotland, Aragon, Castile, Portugal, Hungary - (9 to 12)
A.D. 1453 Austria, Naples, Venice, France, England, Scotland, Arragon, Castile, Portugal, Hungary, Switzerland (?), Savoy (?), Milan (?), Tuscany (?) - (11 to 14)
A.D. 1562 Austria, Venice, France, England, Scot-land, Spain, Naples, Portugal, Hungary, Switzerland (?), Lombardy (?) - (9 to 11)
A.D. 1648 Austria, Venice, France, Britain (?), Spain and Naples, Portugal, Hungary, Switzer-land (?), Savoy, Tuscany, Holland - (8 to 11)
A.D. 1750 Austria & Hungary, France, Savoy and Sardinia, Venice, Tuscany, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland (?), Naples (?), Britain(?), Holland - (8 to 11)
A.D. 1816 Austria, Bavaria, Wurttemburg (?), Naples, Tuscany, Sardinia, Lombardy (?), France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Britain(?), Switzerland (?) - (9 to 13)
“An examination of this list reveals the surprising fact, which would only become more apparent were the list lengthened ten times, so as to present a census of each decade instead of each century, that amidst unceasing and almost countless fluctuations, the kingdoms of modern Europe have from their birth to the present day averaged ten in number. They have never since the breakup of old Rome been united into one single empire; they have never formed one whole even like the United States.” (Excerpted from Daniel, the Beloved of Jehovah-Streeter, p.187, 188)1
(1) Austria, (2) Belgium, (3) Britain, (4) France, (5) Germany, (6) Holland, (7) Italy, (8) Portugal, (9) Spain, (10) Switzerland — those surviving to our day!
We will look at this first verse as it is explained in The Keys of Revelation in our next post.
